Radio Free Sarawak founder Clare Rewcastle
Brown accepted the highly prestigious Pioneer of Free Media Award from the
International Press Institute at its annual conference in Amman last night.
Accompanied by two London colleagues she
received the honour on behalf of the whole team of Sarawak Malaysian producers
and presenters. The award was
established in 1996 to honour media or organizations which have fought to
ensure freer and more independent media in their countries.
The other two honours presented by the
IPI’s Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie were the World Press Freedom
Hero Awards, bestowed on two highly distinguished journalists, Marie Colvin and
Mika Yamamoto, who were both killed in Syria last year.
Alison Bethel McKenzie presents the Pioneer
of Press Freedom Award to RFS
In her address to the 300 guests present at
the gala dinner at the Hussein Club in Amman Alison Bethel McKenzie said:
“It is my pleasure and honour to hand the
2013 IPI Free Media Pioneer Award to Radio Free Sarawak. Radio Free Sarawak was established by
journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown and started broadcasting in November 2010 and
bills itself as “the independent radio station that brings you the news you
want to hear not what others want you to hear”.
In practice this bold mission has involved among other things on-going
attempts to expose alleged government corruption in Malaysia”
Ms Bethel McKenzie outlined how, broadcasting
via shortwave radio and podcast, Radio Free Sarawak’s contributors have been
detained by police and accused of possible acts of sedition by ministers in
Malaysia. Along with facing accusations
of spreading malicious lies and threatening unity and harmony among races.
“During the bitterly contested 2011 Sarawak
elections Radio Free Sarawak and its sister site Sarawak Report were subjected
to what were believed to be deliberate, if ultimately unsuccessful efforts to
silence them via cyber attacks. They have refused to be silenced. Instead they
continue to broadcast loud and clear, critically and courageously”
In her acceptance speech Clare Rewcastle
Brown expressed honour and thanks for this recognition and support from the
world’s oldest and most prestigious institute for international press freedom
on behalf of her Sarawak Malaysian team of journalists and presenters and also
on behalf of the station’s longhouse listeners.
“Malaysia is not used to a free media and
we have provoked very aggressive reactions.
Prominent politicians have accused
us of sedition, filed police reports, accused us of poisoning the minds of the
Dayak people of spreading lies, of acting as a virus and this has manifested
itself in extraordinary cyber-attacks during this recent election and indeed
jamming attacks as well and we find it extraordinary that our little small
voice has provoked such an enormous and angry reaction in Malaysia although it
has also helped to enhance our status in many ways.
It has shown that reform is needed in the
media and we will carry on our work in bringing an opportunity, a platform to
some of the world’s most isolated and intimidated communities, living in the
jungle far away from anyone and having that jungle cut away from under them,
their rivers polluted, food becoming hard to find and really not knowing what
is going on around them. They’ve been
totally disempowered, isolated from information, no one has really known of
their plight.
When we started
broadcasting in 2010 we had no idea where this project would lead us or whether
any of our target listeners in the longhouses would actually want to listen to
us, whether they would be interested or whether they would speak back to
us.
We opened a local phone line in 2011
then we found out. That phone line just
went wild, they are always ringing us telling us about their problems,
delighted to find their voice and they’ve found their courage in the
process. So we will keep on broadcasting
to them, explaining how they can improve their situation, how they can avoid
exploitation, illegal logging, what measures they can take and encouraging them
to know about their rights, encouraging them not to sell their votes for 5
dollars a time as they’ve always been told would be a good idea by the
government in power at this time. We’ve told them they have to exercise their
rights, exercise their voice and through their own efforts bring reform to
their lives and to their country. Thank you for your support in our job”.
~ Radio Free Sarawak
